“I envy him that,” said Charlie. “I can remember the day came when I had been working for a year or two at Duquesne Frères in New York, when I came in and there was a message waiting for me from Nancy Hemphill. She was my uncle Mark’s chief assistant, an ageless woman made of stainless steel. She was almost supernaturally perceptive and rightly feared. The note said she wanted to see me first thing. ‘First thing’ was underlined. I went in and found her at her desk. The surface held no papers and not a mote of dust, as usual. She said, ‘Good. You’re here.’ I waited. She said, ‘It’s time to tell you that you are too old to fuck the women at the office. That ends when you’re no longer the one to bring them coffee. When you get to be one of the coffee recipients, you’re a boss and it’s harassment.’

“I said, ‘Does that mean I’m getting promoted?’ She said, ‘Yes. I’m sure you’ll be miserable for a time, but it’s for the best.’ As always, she was right.”

Tyler Walsh laughed with exactly the right brief, knowing chuckle. Reacting to what the great and powerful said required a finely calibrated sense of proportion.

Charlie sat down at the head of the conference table and waited while Mr. Walsh laid sets of printed papers in front of him.

“This one says your company, Aegil, agrees to purchase the 467 LLC for seven thousand shares of Aegil stock. These shares would become assets of the 467 LLC, which, as soon as the transaction is complete, will be wholly owned by Aegil.”

Charlie signed the paper and waited for the next.

“This is to register the transfer, which makes Aegil the owner of this building.”

The next one appeared from the file. “This one clears the bank accounts of 467 LLC and deposits them in a new account owned by Aegil.”

Charlie signed them both.

“As you know, there’s a house here in Los Angeles.”

“Yes,” said Charlie.

“Here you have two options. Since we didn’t know your preference, we produced papers for both. This one puts the house up for sale, with the proceeds going back to the 467 LLC. That would, of course, make them an asset of Aegil.”

“And the other?”

“This contract simply transfers ownership of the home to Aegil and leaves it as a physical asset.”

“What’s your advice?”